While several religious groups urged SCOTUS to have compassion, Gospel Rescue Mission took the path of cruelty
  • LostWon@lemmy.caEnglish
    8·
    7 months ago

    GRM is a Christian ministry that requires all residents to work for them without pay for “six hours a day, six days a week in exchange for a bunk for 30 days.” They also cannot look for outside work during that month. That’s not all though. They must also attend church every Sunday (from a pre-approved list); Unitarian services are not acceptable. And they have to attend a chapel service twice a day. And they can’t smoke or drink. And they can’t have sex during their stay

    So it’s a cult. Why are cults allowed to pull crap like this? This kind of thing should be prosecuted.

  • tearsintherain@leminal.spaceEnglish
    2·
    7 months ago

    To be clear it was a specific ministry, the Gospel Rescue Mission, who seem to be militant-crusader-forced-conversion-fundamentalist types.

    It’s telling that there’s literally zero mention of “God” anywhere in the brief—which is rather unusual for a Christian group making an argument to the Supreme Court. Especially this Supreme Court. The argument isn’t a religious one because how could it be? The ministry says they have beds available, but for various reasons, many of them are going unused. They must know how bad it would look to justify the cruelty against the homeless using the language of faith. Yet they seem blissfully unaware of how their own religious restrictions may play a significant role in why people with no other options still don’t want to ask them for help.

    • Son_of_dad@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      7 months ago

      Don’t do that. They’re Christians because they said so, there is no standard or membership card. To act like the bad ones aren’t “real Christians” is a cop out and ignores the problems within your religion. Own it, fix it, re-educate your fellow believers, don’t act like they’re not real and sweep them under the rug.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      7 months ago

      The same right as every other Christian who has believed in and committed atrocities over the last 2000 years- they worship Christ.

      You don’t have to follow your religious leader’s teachings to worship them.

      Most of the Germans who participated in the Holocaust called themselves Christians. Some devoutly said their nightly prayers and went to church every Sunday.

      • Chakravanti@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        1·
        7 months ago

        Translation: Whatever “sin” one conducts has none of the consequences, which have been well described and in short, have nothing to do with real life, and one must be accepted by the community via the magic word invocation.

        All the rest is just nonsense for anyone intelligent enough to ask questions.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          7 months ago

          That and you can interpret the Bible in so many ways that it doesn’t really matter what Jesus supposedly said about pretty much anything.

    • pdxfed@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      7 months ago

      There weren’t a lot of other options and it sounded better for recruitment than “Selfish Assholes”, understandable really.